Luna's full moon advanced towards the middle of the sky, proving it was late into the night. Only a few clouds lingered, which occasionally blocked out the milky-white light from reflecting on the smooth water of the lake.
On the grounds stood Luna and Celestia; the ones closest to edge of the water. Other ponies, such as the elements of harmony, the night guard, the Cutie-mark Crusaders (who were all but asleep), and a mysterious stallion in a cloak that began to get fidgety when a night guard asked him why he was here (To which he answered “He paid my dues” and refused to answer anything else), were further down the bank. Impressively, any of the towns people that happened to be awake, along with a few that were awoken for the distinct purpose of attending, were broken up onto the hill behind the regal sisters and guardsponies, just high enough to see over them.
Celestia took a final step towards the wooden boat; one only large enough to fit a single pony. She used her magic to create a flame. It wasn't large, only big enough to be seen by those paying attention, but was a flame nonetheless. She dropped the ball onto the craft, and watched, as it was set into a peaceful inferno. Not even with her magic, but with her own hooves, she pushed the incinerating vehicle out towards the center of the lake.
The ponies watched as it floated out from the bank, and held the only light that was competing with the night sky, leaving a faint orange glow on each body present. It reflected easily off the tears of some of the watchers, proving that he had actually left a mark on on some of the townsponies. The guards only saluted as they saw the corpse, that was certainly crispy by now, set off.
It was indeed a rare sight to see; A strange creature from hidden myths, willingly dying to protect a very few, that he knew only very shortly. They were all told that he sacrificed himself to save the others; Little did they know how accurate that actually was. It wasn't their fault; Celestia and the others didn't want everypony to know what actually happened in front of their eyes. It was too...dark. Evil. Demented.
But in all this, another rare occurrence happened. Now laying down with Luna, Celestia had rested her head on her little sister's shoulder, and had shed a single, pristine, warm, tear, that was now following a guided path down her cheek. It was impossible for anyone else to see it. Only Luna could tell of her sister's emotion, and decided that in the silence of all the ponies around them, now was not the time to speak of it.
Twilight had watched all of this, from the first crackling of the fire to the incinerator that now stopped in the distance of the water. Her eyes were tearing from the moment he told her to take care of herself. Then she remembered what he had given her. I guess now is the best time of any. She pulled up on the chained piece of metal she now wore as a necklace. She pressed the mixed gem on the center and it popped open. She felt as if she was being sucked into it, and that's when her vision blacked out.
Suddenly Twilight's sight came back, as she watched a world become constructed before her. A matrix of memories thrown across space in disorderly fashion. The black backdrop was riddled with fragments of crystallized shards floating all across as if gravity could not affect it. They were so plentiful that the distant ones created an illusion of the night sky. It was almost as if this world was only supposed to contain a single, concrete piece of semi-clear calcite, but something had broken it up into indistinguishable pieces.
“Hello?” She finally called out, only to hear the emptiness that was...whatever this place was. She felt her being finally become overtaken by gravity, landing her on a floor that resembled a thin layer of crystal.
The fall didn't hurt, as high as it was. In fact, she didn't even budge when she hit, nor did she feel any wind or falling force. She simply felt it, like a tap on the bottom of her hoof. She looked up to try to find something to reference how high she fell, but could not make out any distinguishable landmarks. It was easy for her, given her extremely fast learning curve, to realize that this is no longer a 'real' world, per se, just more of a mental state.
The floor was only a small circle, just large enough to fit two ponies across, with what seemed to be an endless walkway connected to the side. On the walkway, there were pedestals adjacent and jutting up from the side every dozen or so meters.
Twilight began to take steps forward, which, in the silence, sounded like drums pounding in a beat. She steadily made her way to the first pedestal, and examined it. It was crudely cut along all of the base up until the top, much like a fracture along a bad angle would produce. At the top set an almost perfectly round orb setting in a half-sphere depression, giving off a glow that only appeared to outline the edge.
Twilight craned her neck and leaned over the edge to attempt further examination, but found there were no other clues as to what this thing did. So out of curiosity, she decided to try and press it.
Tap..
Suddenly everything went black again, but this time was different, she could still see herself, in the omnipresent light that apparently surrounded her. That, and gravity didn't let go. “WooaAAAH!” SLAM. She hit a hard wood floor, and didn't exactly land on her hooves.
Twilight picked herself back up and looked around. She could quickly tell that she was in some kind of beverage serving area, based on the extreme quantity of glasses behind a counter. In front of the counter were two humans, both male if Twilight could tell by the voices. One was scrawnier than the other, and had a higher pitched voice too. They had brown hair, but the thicker one was beginning to go gray
The skinnier one spoke up. “Mr. Smith, please, I need that birth certificate. If I don't have identification then I will never get in the army.”
“Well,” the thicker one grunted, “Why don't you have one already?” He grabbed a tall glass with a golden brown liquid inside and began to drink.
The younger one gave a sigh. “I have no parents, alright? When I checked the hospital as a few years ago, they didn't have one person on file that I recognized, not even me. When I was born, either the records were destroyed, or I was never registered in the first place. I grew up on the streets only being called by my first name.” He turned his chair to face the other man. “I have never met someone that knew me by anything more than my first name.”
Twilight could now see a few more features on the smaller one. He had blue eyes, pale skin, and kept his hair at a short length.
“Alright...i guess that makes sense. One more question kid.”
The younger one squinted at the term he was called, clearly showing agitation. “What?”
“Why the army?”
“...why not?” He spun around in his chair a couple times and stopped in a forward position, then spoke again as if to restate his answer. “I just want to help. If I can make a difference...to a single person out there, then, I think my life will have been worth-while.”
The thicker man put on a fur coat that was hanging on his chair. He dropped some money on the table to cover the drink and stood up. “One more thing Jack.”
The younger one perked up.
“I'm going to need a last name if you want fake papers. Since it's yours, I may as well ask what you want it to be.”
He sat there, thinking about all the names he could, before he decided to simply pick his favorite. “Put my last name as.... Alexander.”
Wait, what? Twilight thought.
The man exited, and nothing else happened. It seemed as if everything (including Jack) had gone into some kind of idling mode. Absolutely nothing was moving, and the crickets outside, along with the dishwasher on the other side of the room, and everything else had gone silent as well.
Twilight looked around herself, and saw that the same pedestal was standing next to her. It was glowing with just a tint of green now, unlike the white it had earlier. She decided to press it, hoping it was continue the scene.
She blinked, and realized that the memory before her had completely disappeared. She was now standing back on the crystallized walkway that extended in front and behind her. She looked at the pedestal, and took note of the fact that the orb sitting on top was no longer glowing with it's weak aura.
Why would he lie to us about his first name? She thought. She looked down the path, and looked eagerly over to the next pedestal. Well, only one way to find out.
As she had before, Twilight made her way over towards the next stalagmite and examined it. Just as the previous one had, it was topped with a sphere that gave a soft white glow. She tapped it, and she felt another pull into the fabricated reality.
The drop was much lower this time, only a few inches.
She felt the cold grass on the side of the beaten path that led up to a...cottage? Fluttershy's cottage! Twilight thought. Then, this must be when he..
She began to hear a violin, along with a voice. “Roman Calvary choirs are singin'~ Me, my mirror, my sword and shield~” She turned to it's origins, and was surprised at what she saw.
There, with his legs hanging over the edge, was Jack. His violin was playing away in a quiet volume, and his voice was nearly a whisper. Next to him was Fluttershy, laying down with her head on his side, lightly snoring.
Twilight watched as the calm breeze had picked up Fluttershy's mane and Jack's robe every few moments. It was tiring, to say the least. Given the events that had transpired earlier today, and how late it actually is at the moment, Twilight felt that she could fall asleep right here and now. But for some reason, no matter how she felt, her body would not allow her to delve into rest. It was like the memories restricted her from losing her tight embrace on reality.
She listened as the hushed tune of the instrument began to decrescendo into silence as the song ended. Twilight watched as Jack picked up Fluttershy slowly and made his way towards the door. The ground around her began to get fuzzy, so Twilight hightailed it towards the two.
She got in right as he closed the door, and followed the bipedal figure upstairs. When he got to the top, he opened the door to her room and began to set Fluttershy down. He made sure she was comfortable under the quilt. Twilight watched with anticipation, and heard a single thought out loud.
Why does she look so familiar? Jack thought, and Twilight heard. He placed his hand in her mane, and lightly ran his fingers through the fine silky-smooth hair.
Suddenly, Twilight felt a burst of memories come over her. From one second to the next, she simply knew what had just happened to Jack; She saw what he saw, all in an immediate flow of knowledge. She had just learned of all the things about his daughter, all of the past that Jack had just been forced to remember at this very moment in time.
It was eye-opening to say the least; Now she understood why he seemed less than willing to stay with Fluttershy for an extended period of time. She simply reminded him too much of his own daughter. But why he was still more closed off from others, though, remains a mystery.
She watched him, with the same distortion of reality that he had, as he descended the stairs quickly and quietly, grabbed his stuff and ran out.
He was sprinting halfway down the path when he took a sudden stop. Just like before, everything paused in time. Twilight looked around herself again, and like the previous time, there was another pedestal beside her.
She looked back towards Jack, who was not much farther down the path than she was. She had so many questions to ask, and she might not ever get any of them answered.
As she tapped the pedestal once again, she asked herself one question in her mind..
Why did he seem so willing to go?
As the crystal world came back, she heard a voice say something, an echo of a memory that was put here, almost as if he was talking to her directly. “I'll be fine.” It said. I'll be fine.. She thought. Wait, he said that at the castle! Why would he say that, unless...no, he couldn't be, could he? Do those even exist? I doubt it. Even Celestia.... She paused.
Celestia....
She decided to stop her monologue to herself before too many theories could be created. Twilight looked over to the next pedestal. The least I could do is look at all the evidence first. She quickened her normally paced walk, and made her way over to the diamond-Esq stand.
She unconsciously held her breath, in hopes that there would be some sort of answer to her questions behind all these memories, not just more questions.
She tapped the stone sphere and watched as the world destructed and reassembled itself again. This time, she was in a house; Two stories, with a kitchen behind her, stairs to her left, and several entrances to various rooms on her right, along with a covered window in front of her. A few pieces of furniture littered the room; A couch, two padded chairs that looked as if they were rarely used, a single stool that sat in the center of the room with something that looked like one of Vinyl's portable 'beat-box' s as she called it, and a desk that sat against the wall at the window.
At the desk was Jack, writing away on some piece of parchment that seemed to be of importance. Twilight was having a hard time trying to figure out why Jack would want her to see this memory, but then decided that it must be what he was writing at the time was the importance. She stepped her way around the chosen décor and made her way towards the oak-wooden desk. She leaned over the edge and began scanning the page, but before she could made a single word out, he picked it up and began going over it himself.
Not out loud. She could clearly hear his voice, but his lips weren't moving. His thoughts from the memory instead, were what she was hearing.
“Dear reader,
It is with shame that you must find me in such a way. Such tragedy it is that must be the guillotine to the thin thread of life that I feel I have left. Since those few months ago, I am unable to function as one should, and am no longer use to anyone. I know that I will never move past the end of the only one I have ever lived for, and so, I simply wish to be with her again. Through my years I’ve learned of many things. One of them, is this: The fewer things you care for, the more you care. Since coming back, I’ve only cared for one thing, my daughter. I would give anything to be with her again, and that's exactly what I intend to do. Whether my eyes are deluded I will not know, but it is still through those eyes that I see a way to be reunited.
Suzanne, I shall see you soon.
Sincerely,
Jack Alexander.”
Twilight watched with tear-brimmed eyes as he folded the letter up and placed it on the table. “What do you mean by that..?” She asked emptily, grasping a small amount of hope he could answer her.
He did nothing in reaction to her, and instead, opened a drawer on the side and dug his hand through the insides. He pulled out a silver piece of metal and held it in his hand.
It took Twilight several moments of thinking before the answer came to her, as to what it was. She now recalled the device from the earlier memory. The shining shard of steel that was now in the clutches of Jack was something called a 'gun', and it shoots lethal projectiles.
Very lethal projectiles.
She only watched in disbelief as Jack pulled back the hammer and dragged it's aim further up. She watched him as he silently bit on the end of the barrel and closed his eyes.
Twilight couldn't bear to watch any more, and closed her eyes right before the loud bang the followed. She stood there for who knows how long, scared to open her eyes to what was surely a huge mess. She peaked just a bit and looked at the crimson spray that had landed for several feet behind him. Some of it was still in the air from the memory stopping.
She hid herself from the sight again by throwing her hooves over her eyes, and began to cry softly. Her tears slowly ran down her face, leaving a trail of salt-watered fur. She remembered back to the castle, and the conversation they had before. What is it you wanted me to see!? She thought. What is it that could ever make you do this?!? Why in the universe would I ever need to watch...you die........twice.
That's when her mind clicked. This is his memory.
“I'll be fine.” he had said.
“...it will show you everything I am...”
She jerked her head up. Suddenly Twilight realized that her earlier suspicions were perfectly accurate.
Stunned at this new information, she quickly disregarded the scene that now lays before her, and reached over to the pedestal that had, at some point, appeared. For the third time she watched as a realistic memory was burned away and nothing but crystallized information remained around her.
This time was different, though. The objects that flew around were no longer the off-white shades, but were now a deeper blue and violet. She looked around at her changed surroundings and took account of them. The seemingly endless walkway was now broken off next to her. She accidentally kicked a shard off the edge and watched as it descended into infinite darkness. On the other side of her was the more spacious area that is far too close to say it's in the same place as before. On it was another pedestal.
Twilight shifted her feet and walked over to the small pillar and pressed on it. The ground around it broke and began dropping at a constant speed. As it descended the light kept receding, until there was nothing but black. Then the pace began to quicken, faster and faster until she could no longer feel the elevator and was now dropping at the speed of whatever gravity would allow in this place.
Her heart was racing. She couldn't even hear her own panicking because noisy wind passing by. Her hoof hit the side of the shaft and sparks flew around, confirming that she was indeed falling at unnatural speeds. Twilight closed her eyes as she saw a glimpse of light under her. For all she new, the fall would be lethal. She hadn't anticipated this, so her mind was set into a craze. She felt the air become warmer as she neared it, and then, nothing.
The air stopped, noise died, screaming halted, and she could feel her hooves on solid ground. She opened her eyes to see the crackling of the fire, still burning to a crisp. The moon still shone bright above the sky, and a few ponies that had paid their respects had left towards home.
She looked at the silver watch she held, and saw on it, a timer. The inside of the timepiece that normally held some kind of networking of wires and gears was hollow, and contained a single piece of sorcery that was called a 'hologram', as Jack put it. The message on it was as follows: 3.4M. 28.7K. 40Yrs.
Twilight recognized those abbreviations. They were mathematical terms in 'old equestrian', as one would say. Being Celestia's protege meant that the Princess herself would help choose the studies Twilight took on. Celestia preferred the now dead language, which she so often signed her name in, and it resulted her name being one of only two names that were known and used outside of studies (Luna being the other, upon return). The princess had taught Twilight everything about that language, including all of the odd and numerous abbreviations.
Okay she thought, it means... three million...four hundred and twenty eight thousand...seven hundred and forty...years. She was stuck on the last part on the end. That's...impossible. No, no, maybe it's how old the watch is. Or maybe how old his lineage is? It can't be... No-one could EVER live that long. Suddenly her memory struck her with how defensive he was about telling his age. Oh gods.... that's..... I feel terrible.
She sat there in a slightly somber silence, pondering the precarious events that have passed, and waiting for a certain someone to show, until he did.
“Beautiful.” Jack said, setting on the grass next to Twilight, and watching his previous husk cremate. She could already tell it was him, since his voice hadn't changed in the slightest. What she hadn't noticed was the severe lack of surprise surrounding her.
“Isn't it? I've never seen a soldier's funeral before. Is it always like this?” She asked.
A low hum kicked in as the large golden flames turned turquoise and began to truly destroy the contents of the casket on the water.
“More or less, though I’m disappointed no-one brought s'mores this time.”
Twilight halfheartedly smiled at the comment. The other half of her, however, wanted to be offended that he could look at death so passively. This feeling was reinforced when a few nearby listeners had picked up the comment, and glared at him with suspicion, to which the pair ignored.
“So, Twilight, have you learned anything from all of this yet?” Jack asked as if from some impromptu script.
Twilight hadn't exactly thought about learning anything from this experience, she was just trying to get through all of this in one piece. She shook her head. “Give me a few minutes. I'll have something.”
After a good ten seconds of solid boredom, Jack leaned in and whispered to her. “Need a few hints?”
It wasn't that Twilight would actually need it, but she was curious about what he had to say nonetheless. She nodded.
“Remember when I told you that riddle about what someone has to give up to trans-mutate themselves? Have you found the answer?”
She was suddenly confused by the question that didn't seem to be related to this particular subject, but she gave her answer anyways. “Someone has to give up their life. That's why you don't want me to know the spell.”
Jack smiled at her apparent revelation. “Very good, Twilight. You're quite clever. But the truth is I lied.” He said it as if it had been obvious he had been hiding something. “You see, it requires nothing more than what any other spell requires.”
A wave of frustration came over Twilight, but subsided for her curiosity once more. “Why?”
Jack breathed out a puff of smoke from a cigarette he had apparently lit while they were conversing. “For one thing, in the wrong han-..hooves, that spell could be dangerous. Imagine if Chrysalis could turn her minions into real ponies, or dragons for that matter.” He paused, taking a clean lung full of air. “For another, I’ve learned that it is damaging to force a society to evolve faster than it's natural pace. But the book I did give you wasn't exactly a new spell, just taking another one and messing with it really.”
Twilight wanted to kick him at this point, but she saw his point. It is the same reasoning that royalty and wizards use in defense of keeping powerful spells, weapons, or artifacts locked up in a castle, labyrinth, or any other secure area.
“So what did you gather from that, Twilight?”
“Dear Princess Celestia,” she started. “Today I learned th-”
“Just sum it up, I don't like reading other people's mail.”
She gave a huff. “Those that are close to you, will often try to protect you, even if you think the means are unreasonable or unneeded.”
“Well, that's good too. I was going more for 'Everyone lies, and for a reason' kind of idea, but yours works just as well.” He smirked, though she didn't know he did.
“You kinda suck at this 'friendship' thing, you know that, right?” It was her turn to smirk.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Hey, aren't those your princesses coming?”
She looked off of the fire for the first time and saw two regal figures approaching herself and Jack. Both of their eyes glowed with life as the fire set a soft reflection. The star-filled hair of Luna twinkled in the night, and much like the real stars, gave a comfortable feeling for those that found themselves in the darkness. Even Celestia's primary rainbow hair held a weak glisten in it's flow. The two spoke with a motherly warmth to their voices.
“Hello Twilight, who's your new friend here?” Celestia asked in a calm and moderately curious tone.
“Huh?” she said. “What do you mean? This is..” She turned to look at him for the first time since they were at the castle.
There was no human in sight. What sat next to her was a white-coated stallion, with gray socks and brown hair. His mane was combed a bit, just enough to part the hair to the sides and clear his view, while his tail was less taken care of. Though, it almost looked natural on him, given the horn that protrudes from his head. His strong-blue eyes complimented the auburn cigarette that he was extinguishing at the time. On his arse was four cards, one of each suit, each with a king on them, and each having the 'Ace' symbol in the corner. He wore a leather-like vest, that, looked like it had be sewn together by somepony that could use more practice, and contained a variety of pockets for little nick-knacks.
The grown colt made a small bow to the princesses and said with a smile, “Jack Alexander at your services. Though you formerly know me only as Alexander. Call me Jack from now on.”
The royal pair glanced at each other as if surprised by this revelation. Luna pressed. “You mean, as in the supposed human that saved my sister?”
“Well, I was really just the show front, there was a doctor on standby just in case.” He stated calmly, expressing a bit of gratitude at the end.
The crowds around them had begun to leave in large groups, and left few ponies, allowing them to speak more freely. “And yet, you defied death, and soul banishment at that?” Luna added.
He motioned to the lavender companion next to him. “I believe Twilight here is entitled to answer that one.”
Twilight met the eyes of her mentor and mentor's sister with an honest gaze. “He is, in it's strongest sense, immortal. I can testify to this.” She met their curious gazes with a pleasant smile.
“Oh and, the guy doing the soul banishing really, really sucked at it. I was only in Tartarus for about three minutes, not even enough time to go through the brochure they had. Did you know they have a lava slide down there? I have never seen happier demons in my entire life. I mean ser-”
“Ahem.” Twilight cut in.
Jack got slightly nervous that someone he knew was finally rubbing off on him, albeit it could be worse.
“Well since you are back,” Celestia incited. “I was wondering if you would like to discuss events over some dinner with Luna and myself. Maybe as a celebration, and a thank you?”
Jack cracked a brilliantly stupid plan to mess with the princesses some. He cracked a wide smile. “Sure, I’ll come. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!”
While Twilight was giving him a disgusted face of disbelief, the princesses only grinned and shook their heads. “Typical human behavior, wouldn't you say sister?” Celestia asked. “Yes, saying the worst of jokes at the worst of timing.” Luna added. This dissuaded Twilight of shock a bit, knowing he was only kidding, but she was still appalled he would joke about cannibalism. And the princesses only laughed!
“Alright then, is Sunday evening good for you Jack?” Celestia asked in her always polite tone.
“Yes, I believe so.” He confirmed.
“Very well then, we'll see you there. Farewell you two. Do svidaniya.” The milk-colored princess said.
The two flew off to gather their guards, leaving the pair alone.
“Twilight, I have one important question.” He said in a pleading manner.
“What is it?” She asked, worried it was another question surrounding morals, lessons, or anything else that required inquisitive thought.
….......
“When the heck is Sunday?”[/i
]
Alright everypony, i'm not dead! This failure of a Fanfic will be finished in due time. But having all advanced classes really hurts your free time. Regardless, i'll be trying to pace myself and be more descriptive for this last one. That's right, only one more chapter! For those that stayed after my stupid rant a couple chapters ago, thank you. I feel like i'm just an impatient SOB.
You know, hell, i'll probably be stupid enough to try and write a sequel. Maybe i should just give up writing all together and go make my tupla like i want to.
In any case, please comment more and thanks for sticking to this sorry excuse for a story.
Sincerely,
Alexander "Jack" the Paladin.
P.S.
Dear god guys, i need help thinking of a new title for this story. This one is terrible and i need help!